Chi Raq documentary (Chicago, Mark: safe, authority, suburbs)

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

I was seconds from being in the bullet paths last night, saw this happen...

Man shot to death in Wicker Park overnight - chicagotribune.com

Did you see they caught the alleged perp already? Address listed was 2600 n. sacramento. Yeah, Logan Old Money Boulevard. You've got 4 decades of the packing-heat element bunkering down in Logan Square, they will be here a while yet.


Man charged in fatal Wicker Park shooting to appear in court Sunday - Chicago Sun-Times

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Did you see they caught the alleged perp already? Address listed was 2600 n. sacramento. Yeah, Logan Old Money Boulevard. You've got 4 decades of the packing-heat element bunkering down in Logan Square, they will be here a while yet.


Man charged in fatal Wicker Park shooting to appear in court Sunday - Chicago Sun-Times

On a similar note, listening and reading comments from Wicker Park residents is pretty interesting, along the lines of "a seedy element has been moving into our neighborhood." No it hasn't, it never completely left. Either you just moved to Wicker Park yesterday or you've been willfully blind to what goes on in your neighborhood. They seem oblivious to the fact that the dainty little boutiques and cafes haven't been there since the beginning of time. The veneer of chic along the Milwaukee Avenue corridor is still thinner than some people realize or care to admit.

Anyway, they had suspects in custody since shortly after it happened. Police were within earshot of the shooting when it happened (as they often are when the bars let out around there on weekends), and they were on the scene within seconds. I guess the suspects were sitting on a front porch pretending they lived there. Not sure if indicted suspect was one of the two originally brought in.

It's hard to be stunned any more when someone is killed in this town, but I can't comprehend the sheer brazenness to walk up and shoot someone while literally surrounded by dozens of witnesses.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Drover

On a similar note, listening and reading comments from Wicker Park residents is pretty interesting, along the lines of "a seedy element has been moving into our neighborhood." No it hasn't, it never left. They seem oblivious to the fact that the dainty little boutiques and cafes haven't been there since the beginning of time. The veneer of chic along the Milwaukee Avenue corridor is still thinner than some people realize or care to admit..

Where did you see these comments, I'm well aware of this area's history.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

Where did you see these comments, I'm well aware of this area's history.

Yeah, but you hang out here, not (or at least not just) on the Red Eye boards.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

Where did you see these comments, I'm well aware of this area's history.

Various media sources.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Yeah, but you hang out here, not (or at least not just) on the Red Eye boards.

I grew up in burbs, but started going to Dreamerz (now Nick's, right where the shooting occurred ) in 88 when I turned 21. Now, I know many of u know the hood much longer than me, but it was a scary place for a suburban college kid to be in back then. I knew u went from yr car 2 the bar and then leaving right 2 yr car, no way I was gonna talk a walk or loiter there! Heck now it's valet parking - then u didn't even need 2 parallel Pk, besides Dreamerz and Estelle's the street was vacant on a weekend night.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

I grew up in burbs, but started going to Dreamerz (now Nick's, right where the shooting occurred ) in 88 when I turned 21. Now, I know many of u know the hood much longer than me, but it was a scary place for a suburban college kid to be in back then. I knew u went from yr car 2 the bar and then leaving right 2 yr car, no way I was gonna talk a walk or loiter there! Heck now it's valet parking - then u didn't even need 2 parallel Pk, besides Dreamerz and Estelle's the street was vacant on a weekend night.

WP could be a scary place back then, no doubt. But I don't think any of us had too many illusions otherwise, whereas I think young folks that have moved to WP in the past 5-10 years get fooled by the boutiques and the high-end restaurants and clubs and don't realize they are seeing only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Fwiw, I did not spent much time in WP in the late 80s, but your description does remind me of trips to Rosa's
back then. Park and get inside, you sure as eff did not just go exploring the hood for the heck of it.

[PurpleLove08]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

More jobs would certainly help, but what really kills me is this idea that society needs to somehow create jobs that will just magically show up close to someone's house.

I imagine that the vast majority of Chicagoans are traveling well outside their immediate neighborhood to work, hell, just look at the trains full of people going to the Loop every morning.

That isn't exactly what I'm arguing for, but wouldn't it be better if more people lived closer to their jobs?

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by PurpleLove08

That isn't exactly what I'm arguing for, but wouldn't it be better if more people lived closer to their jobs?

"Close" has two meanings - physical proximity and then travel time. The kind of travel is also critical to nuance, as light rail makes 20m go by faster than being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 10.

Either way, it's a bit of a chicken and an egg situation. It's easier IMO to move closer to a job than it is for society to move jobs closer to you. That is obviously complicated by issues like tax incentives, tax rates, zoning, etc.

[Chi-town Native]

This is pretty interesting. I think this guy isn't looking at the full homicide picture if he really thinks it all can be traced back to a Mexican cartel. Then again, it's not like "Bloomberg Markets" is a renowned authority on urban violence.

Probing Ties Between Mexican Cartel And Chicago's Violence : NPR

John Lippert, an investigative reporter for Bloomberg Markets magazine, traced the violence in Chicago back to Mexico. Lippert talks to Steve Inskeep about the impact of the Sinaloa drug cartel's dominance over the drug trade in Chicago and the Midwest.